Erich Ludendorf had already told the Kaiser that the war was lost on August 8, 1918, after "the black day of the German Army". What if, when he said on September 29, 1918, that the war was lost again, the Kaiser had him dismissed and replaced by another general (Groerner, perhaps?)?
I know that the war was lost but, with Ludendorf out of the map, would his successor attempted to resist without giving up to panic? Would have a civilian government been formed without Ludendorf to request it?